Cool Receptions
by Mariel1
Summary: Tumnus is having a bit of trouble forgiving Edmund for his betrayal. Maybe talking to Lucy will help. Oneshot, short.


"Cool Receptions"

_Author's Note: I've seen the new Narnia movie a few times, and I noticed a few things. And darn, wouldn't you know it, other writers beat me to the good ideas! So I'm just filling in a few blanks. This will _not_ be a Lucy/Tumnus romance fic, since she's only eight years old at this point, and I always saw them as just being good friends. One-shot. I hope you like it._

The faun stood beside the newly-crowned Queen Lucy as they stared out over the Eastern Ocean, each of them lost in their own private thoughts. Aslan had slipped out without saying goodbye, and now Lucy found herself blinking back tears as she clenched her handkerchief in her tiny hand. '_Not a tame lion_', Tumnus had said. But she wished he had at least said goodbye. Somehow she managed to keep from crying, comforting herself with the knowledge that she would see him again one day.

Tumnus turned and looked back in on the party, his brow furrowing slightly as he saw Edmund speaking with his brother Peter. He knew this Edmund was Lucy's brother, and he knew that he had redeemed himself at the Battle of Beruna, but the faun had trouble feeling friendly towards the boy. Edmund's betrayal was still very fresh in his mind.

Tumnus's imprisonment had been horrible enough when he thought his own carelessness had betrayed him. The Witch had questioned him extensively, fetching him a stunning slap across his cheek, her nail leaving a little cut. She had threatened him, had him shackled and beaten, and essentially left him for dead in the bowels of her dungeon. And it was cold, so cold there. It was no less than he deserved, he had thought. He had come extremely close to turning Lucy over to the Witch the first time the little girl had visited him, and the very thought of it still left him twisted with guilt.

Then a new prisoner had been brought in, and it had only taken him a moment to realize that this boy was Lucy's brother. '_I was so naive..._' he thought as he remembered how easily he had trusted him. He was Lucy's brother, right? How could he be anything but a friend?

That had all been shattered when the Witch fairly gloated, "You're here because _he_ turned you in...for sweeties."

All that pain for a bit of candy. Not just his own pain, but the fact that Edmund had betrayed his own family. Betrayed _Lucy_. It was enough to make Tumnus rethink his newly-found trust in humans, at least at the time.

Now things were well...weren't they? Of course, he hadn't smiled and bowed when he had crowned Edmund. He had merely done his duty, and gone to pick up the next crown. He had acted almost as cold as...

He sighed, and turned his eyes towards the ocean once more. He was no longer smiling, as he had been several moments ago. Lucy, sensing that something was bothering him, put her hand over his, mirroring the comforting gesture he had offered her earlier. "Mr. Tumnus? Is everything all right?"

He forced a smile. "Yes, of course." His eyes flicked briefly to Edmund, then away again, and Lucy followed his gaze.

The little queen was silent for a few moments as she came to several conclusions at once, and she decided to tell him what needed to be said. "He's...really not so bad, you know."

"I...I didn't say he was." stammered Tumnus, not looking at her.

"You didn't have to." she replied.

Tumnus's head jerked up, and when he saw that she wasn't at all angry with him for what she knew he must think of her brother, he sighed. "Forgive me..."

"The Witch tricked him...like she tricked _you_." she said.

"No, no, not quite..." said the faun; he hadn't been taken in by promises of sweets and special treatment. He had been too frightened to refuse the White Witch when she had come to him and given him his task. To catch and bring to her any human child he found, and he would be left in peace.

"I remember back home...during the air raids, when the bombs were falling-" she began.

"Air...raids?" he asked, perplexed. "Bombs?"

"Well...when the war was happening, we had to hide in a shelter. And Edmund went back inside to get something..." she told him.

When she didn't elaborate, he asked, "What?"

"The picture of our father..." she said quietly, "It was very dangerous, but he got it and came back in with us...The picture was still ruined, though. I...think he might have cried a little, but I couldn't see very well. It was dark."

Tumnus looked away, remembering the distruction of his own father's painting. The wolf, Maugrim, had slashed it to shreds before his very eyes. He knew where she was going with this, and he found his feelings of hurt and betrayal slipping away. A king Edmund might be, but he was also a child who missed his father, and had been going through pain of his own. Now that Tumnus thought about it, why _wouldn't_ Edmund respond the way he did if someone treated him nicely? Even if it _was_ a trick. Perhaps he hadn't known the significance of what he was doing. No, of course he didn't! The faun ran his hand through his curly hair and sighed, feeling where his horns had been sawn off by the Witch's lackeys. They had recently been replaced with metal caps in the shape of his horns to preserve his dignity. They had all suffered because of the Witch. Even Edmund. Perhaps, in a way, especially Edmund. "Oh dear..."

"Please...don't be angry at him, Mr. Tumnus..." she pleaded quietly.

The faun smiled at her, and sighed. A great weight had been lifted from his heart, and he finally found it in himself to completely forgive Edmund. "I am not angry, dear Lucy. I believe I finally understand."

END


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